The Demon Within
by Sarcastic Avenger
Summary: The characters of Naruto reimagined for a science fiction cyberpunk universe. Corrupt governments, megacorps, netrunners, cyberpunk ninjas mixed in medley with hints of V for Vendetta.
1. Chapter 1: The Shadow Warriors

The Demon Within

Summary: In a more familiar universe, Naruto and co were Konoha ninjas, devoted to the promotion of peace and justice in a more serene, idyllic world. But this world is far from serene. A corrupt totalitarian regime rules over the people of the Fire Country with an iron fist. Those who resist this oppression face swift retribution from the shadow warriors of Konoha, the regime's shadowy secret police. Using advanced technology and dedicated training, Konoha hunts down all those who would resist.

Zealous from years of careful propaganda bombardment, nine youths eagerly join the secret police to serve flag and country. But doing the dirty work for the Party leaders reveals the truth hidden behind the lies. Will their humanity prevail, or will the demon within consume them?

Chapter One: The Shadow Warriors

**AN: **Obviously, I don't own the Naruto franchise. That aside, all references towards the history of 20th century totalitarianism are _not_ purely coincidental. In fact, mad propz to you the reader if you can find them all. Think of it as a literary scavenger hunt

Anyway, I've been thinking about this fic for a little while now. It's the ninja action of Naruto in a dystopian cyberpunk world. Splashes of _V for Vendetta_, and the Spanish Revolution will be thrown in for good measure. I hope you enjoy this rather interesting concoction that I've brewed. Revised and edited as of June 11th.

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"_If you want to imagine the future, imagine a boot stepping on a human face—forever._" –George Orwell

The sun rose slowly over the horizon, casting its bright glow over the dim squalor of Unity City's slums. The day begins anew once more, just like it has since the beginning of time. Mighty Sol cares not for the affairs of the mortal world below, yet humanity has found it convenient to arbitrarily mark moments of importance by the sun's trek through the sky. The megalomaniacal rulers of the Fire Country have found it fitting to name this day for such importance. Today marked the 60th anniversary of the New Order, as the ruling Guardian Party has styled its rise to power. For the past sixty years, the Party oligarchy has held an iron grip on the Fire Country, outlawing all opposition.

Today, the military will hold a massive parade through the streets of Unity City in honor of Kami-sama, Party and Fatherland. Columns of soldiers, dressed in their finest dress uniforms, will goosestep down Central Avenue, flanked by an impressive display of military might: hundreds of tanks, armored troop carriers, rocket batteries and even a few tactical nuclear missile launchers will join in the display, just for good measure. This year's New Order Parade will be no different than the past fifty-nine except in scale. Half of Unity City's population will show up to enthusiastically cheer on the military regime, and other half will arrive solely to keep up 

appearances, not willing to risk an unpleasant middle-of-the-night house call by Konoha for their lack of patriotism.

Uzumaki Naruto would have been in the enthusiastic crowd this year had something more important not come up. The eighteen year old energetic blond would have never dreamed of missing New Order Parade until recently. Until just yesterday he had planned on attending the parade. That was until he learned that he had been selected to take the Konoha entrance exams.

As a young orphan boy, he'd seen the "exploits" of the Konoha organization, and had wanted to join ever since. He worked hard all through school, joining the Guardian Youth junior paramilitary as soon as he entered high school. He devoted his entire life to military training of the Guardian Youth, and soon became a junior squad leader, dazzling his teachers with his dedication. Now it had all paid off. He quickly rushed through his morning routine, donned his black and orange squad leader's uniform, and dashed out the door of his guardian's apartment. He ran to the corner subway station as fast as he could, acceptance letter in hand. Naruto hurriedly paid the subway toll, and dashed down to the vacant platform. He quickly found a vacant bench, and sat down to read his acceptance letter once more.

Uchiha Sasuke also found himself missing the patriotic festivities of the day. He too had been summoned to take the Konoha entrance exam. Today was the day he had waited for all his life; today he'd get the chance to join the organization that was dedicated to hunting down traitors and enemies of the state. Traitors like his brother, the terrorist Uchiha Itachi, who had betrayed not only his country and the Party, but his family as well. Itachi had wiped out everyone in his family but Sasuke during the ultimately failed _coup d'état_ attempt by his terrorist organization, Akatsuki. To Sasuke, such traitors and enemies of the state deserved no mercy.

This of course made him the perfect recruit for the secret police. Sasuke walked casually into the subway station, barely noticing anyone around him. He had his mission, and wasn't going to let anything or anyone distract him from it. He sat down right next to Naruto, hardly even noticing the spunky blond-haired man even existed. He pulled out his acceptance letter, and thumbed through it one more time, making doubly sure he knew the instructions by heart.

Sasuke let out a long sigh. For the first time since the murder of his family, he actually had something to look forward to and be anxious about. He inattentively shoved the acceptance letter back into his backpack, catching the attention of the young man sitting next to him

As quick as a flash, Naruto yanked the slightly crumpled acceptance letter out Sasuke's hands. "Hey, you're joining Konoha too!" he exclaimed as he glanced at the letter. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. What's yours?"

"None of your damn business!" Sasuke barked as he quickly snatched the letter back. He carefully folded it up this time, and swiftly returned it to his backpack, which he carefully placed out of reach of Naruto.

"Damn you're a surly little prick," Naruto sighed, "I was just trying to be friendly…"

"Rifling through other people's things is not friendly, dumbass!" Sasuke snapped back.

"Jeesh, chill out dickwad!" Naruto retorted.

"God fucking damnit! Just sod off and leave me the fuck alone!"

As their verbal fight escalated into a brawl, a pink haired young woman arrived on the bullet train platform, casually humming a nondescript tune. As she caught notice of Naruto balling up his fist to punch Sasuke, her cheery demeanor quickly transformed into one of pure murderous intent. "Leave Sasuke-kun alone you fuckhead or so help me I'll--!" she barked, not caring whether her sentence was finished or not.

Naruto instantly froze upon hearing this. He cautiously turned to the new voice, fist still hovering, ready to strike. She eyed him with a stare that seemed to signal the coming apocalypse. While her eyes began boring holes through him, he cried, "Listen bitch, stay out of this."

She cracked her knuckles menacingly. "Listen, dead man," she threatened in an uncharacteristically low tone, "I'm going to give you three seconds to leave Sasuke-kun alone. After that, it's dental record time!"

Naruto swallowed, nearly shrinking with fear for a second. Her threats to kill him and mutilate his body were definitely serious. Regaining his masculine composure, he retorted, "Wait a sec, you know this asshole?"

"Of course I do!" she shot back, "We were in the same Guardian Youth unit. Not that it matters, dumbass."

"I'm so sorry then," Naruto stabbed with a fox-like grin.

She ignored his jab, instead turning to the raven haired young man. "Sasuke-kun, was this dumbass bothering you?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Sasuke replied, "But I don't need your help dealing with an annoying pipsqueak like him, Sakura." He quickly returned to ignoring the world, unable to decide what was worse; dealing with that abrasive dropout Naruto, or the slavish admiration of Sakura.

Sakura sat down in between Naruto and Sasuke. In an instant, she switched modes from harbinger of doom to seductive charmer. "So Sasuke-kun," she asked, "I take it you're joining Konoha as well?" She fiddled with a lock of her pink hair as she waited for his response.

Sasuke turned to her, exasperated. "Sakura, you really are annoying. Leave me alone!" He got up, and moved to the next bench over, leaving Sakura and Naruto sitting in awkward silence.

Sakura sat in stunned silence for several minutes. Even with all obstacles out of the way she still couldn't impress Sasuke about anything. Naruto soon decided to break the silence before she started scheming to kill him in his sleep. "So…" he fished, "you're joining Konoha too? That's really impress—"

"I don't want have anything to do with a dumbass like you!" she barked, proving irrefutably that shit does in fact roll down hill.

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice! What's so special about that prick anyway?"

"If you can't see that then there is no hope for you," she snapped back.

Naruto never really had any luck with women, but this Sakura character was epic. "Fine, I'll stop trying to be nice," he retorted. But there was a lingering uncertainty in his voice. This girl seemed strangely familiar, like he'd known her before. He searched through his memories for the name Sakura, just in case he'd remember it. Unfortunately, no such luck. But he couldn't shake that feeling of familiarity. As abrasive as she had been, there was something oddly alluring about her. Perhaps it was just him being a glutton for punishment. Either way, Freud would have a field day.

The subway train soon arrived, and the three silently filed onto the subway car. Naruto was in the lead, and Sasuke was careful to stay at least ten feet behind Naruto, while Sakura followed closely behind Sasuke. The car wasn't too crowded, and Naruto saw a couple of familiar faces. Naruto quickly recognized Hyuuga Hinata, the mousy brunette who always seemed act strange around him, and Inuzuka Kiba, the feral, boisterous young lad he'd been in many a fight with. Recognizing Aburame Shino, however, took a little longer.

The rest, however, were strangers to him. A rather attractive blond haired girl in purple attire quickly caught his attention. She was shouting something unintelligible towards an unkempt 

looking dark gray-haired young man, who was doing his best to try to shrug it off. During the inquisition he would turn to his portly companion, who'd nod in agreement in between snacking on chips. "_Apparently they're having issues too,_" Naruto thought. He quickly found his seat.

Sasuke came in next. He apparently recognized those three, rolling his eyes as soon as he caught sight of them. He sat down as far away from Naruto as he could. Sakura soon followed in. When she saw the blond woman, she instantly froze. "Ino…" she muttered.

Ino quickly halted her assault on scruffy looking man, and replied "Oh, I didn't know you were coming along, forehead girl."

"Listen Ino-pig, I didn't come here to fight with you!" Sakura snapped back.

"That's right, Sakura. You came here to fail at sweeping Sasuke-kun off his feet." Ino turned to Sasuke and cheered, "Hey Sasuke-kun! How's it going? Is this stalker giving you a hard time?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes in disgust and ignored her. Not one, but two of those annoying women were applying to join Konoha. There was a good chance that he'd end up having to put up with at least one of them for a long, long time.

Sakura continued her verbal sparring with Ino as the train began rolling forward. The conductor verified that all nine candidates were on board, and the bullet train began rocketing out of the city.

The train ride was fairly long and mostly uneventful. Everyone's travelling permits were in order, and the only major disturbance was Ino and Sakura's constant bickering. After an hour of fighting, Sakura decided she had enough, and sat down as far away from Ino as she could, grudgingly picking the seat next to Naruto if only for the peace and quiet it would provide.

The security precautions had started to bug Naruto. The windows had been painted over, denying the occupants of the train any view of the country side. All that could be seen through them was the faint glow of sunlight, revealing only one fact: that they were no longer in the city. Nondescript plain clothes men soon arrived, and one by one pulled each applicant aside to do a thorough search of their person. They were clearly taking no risks; everyone had already been searched at least once before getting onto the train platform. When it was Naruto's turn to be frisked, he caught the glimpse of shoulder holster and pistol concealed under one of the searcher's coats. They were definitely Konoha shadow warriors.

When the searches were finally over, boredom returned. Rather than face the bleak monotony, he decided to break the boredom. He turned to Sakura, and meekly asked, "Umm…what's up with you and that Ino bitch?"

She rolled her eyes and whispered, "If you must know, Ino and I used to be best friends, but we've, well, drifted apart."

He cocked his eyebrow. "Drifted apart? How did that happen?" To him, their fighting seemed like more than just "drifting apart."

"We both fell in love with Sasuke-kun," she replied matter-of-factly, "Before we knew it, we were competing over him. Soon we were at each other's throats. Our friendship just self-destructed then."

"_Jeesh,_" Naruto thought to himself, "_no man is worth that, especially that bastard Sasuke._" Of course, he knew that such thoughts he'd best keep to himself, despite the urge to disturb Sakura's idyllic dreams of love. "Wow, that's pretty heavy," he replied to her. "Listen, about earlier," he segued, "I'm sorry that I snapped at you. I don't think clearly when I'm angry."

"You're still an annoying dumbass," she accused.

Stab, twist. "_Why do I put up with shit like this?_" he wondered.

The train ride continued through another hour of tortured silence before finally coming to a halt at a military airbase. The nine applicants were then ushered out of the bullet train, and escorted under armed guard to another security checkpoint. There they were strip-searched, much to their chagrin, and were then given standard issue military fatigues before being escorted to an unmarked black transport helicopter. After a loud and turbulent hour-long helicopter flight, the recruits found themselves on a helipad in the middle of a forest clearing. They were strip searched _again_, photographed, and bioscanned. They were issued ID cards, and then ushered into what they presumed to be an underground training compound.

They were led into a dark auditorium that held about thirty seats. Armed guards stood at the two exits of the room. The recruits were filed in, and were quickly assigned seats. Naruto found himself sitting on the end of a row, with Sakura at his right. Sasuke, much to his chagrin, was sandwiched between Sakura and Ino. Ino's two companions, Shikamaru and Chouji, as Naruto had learned, sat next to her. And finally, the trio of Hinata, Shino and Kiba were at the other end of the row.

Soon, eighteen more young adults filed into the auditorium and were assigned seats. In all, there were twenty-seven applicants in this class. Within a few minutes of everyone being seated, a distinguished looking white haired old man walked onto the dais. He carried the air of experience as he prepared to address the recruits. "As you all know, you've been summoned her to take the entrance exam to join Section Three of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs. Konoha, as the PCIA is more often referred to, as you are well aware, is this nation's first line of defense against enemies, both foreign and domestic. Section Three is the tip of the sword, so to speak."

He began pacing back and forth across the stage as he spoke. "Section Three has the glorious task of bringing the enemies of the state to justice. We root out traitors in the military and bureaucracy, and aggressively hunt down terrorists and foreign spies. You will soon get a chance to become one of the elite few, a shadow warrior of Section Three.

"But, the road before you is far from easy. Only one third of you will pass the exam. Those of you who wash out will either be relegated to the normal police work of Section One, or the intelligence service of Section Two."

There was a small gasp from the audience. They knew the competition would be tough, but most hadn't figured that only a third would make it. The old man continued unimpeded. "I, as you have probably already guessed, am the man known as Hokage. I am in command of Konoha. I am the third man to hold this shadowy post. Perform well, work hard, and rise through the ranks, and someday you too might hold this post. But, for now, we need to see if you have what it takes."

The Hokage motioned to a line of nine experienced shadow warriors. They walked out onto the stage, standing at attention behind the Hokage. "These soldiers are from the Jounin corps, the highest ranking line soldiers of Konoha. They will be your mentors and examiners. Each Jounin will be assigned a team of three recruits. They will then run you through the examination. If you pass, they will be your sensei and commanding officer."

The Hokage pulled a datapad out of his pocket, and began reading off the team lists. Naruto soon found himself in Team Seven, along with Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. While he really didn't mind the chance to get to know Sakura better in spite of her hostility, he absolutely loathed the idea of being on a team with Sasuke. The feeling, of course, was mutual. Sakura quietly gloated to herself about love prevailing while Ino fumed with frustration. Hinata, Kiba and Shino were together on Team Eight, and Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji were on Team Ten.

The teams were soon separated by Chunin handlers, and led each to their own small meeting room. There they waited patiently for their sensei to arrive. Naruto desperately fought off the 

urge to strangle the brooding Uchiha prick, while Sakura reveled in her luck. Sasuke was almost ready to slash his wrists with an odd pencil he'd found in the room.

After a half hour wait, a gray haired man finally walked in their meeting room, bearing the twin gold bars of a Captain on his beret. He wore a head band crooked over his face, covering up his left eye. He had a slovenly manner to himself; for being a highly trained shadow warrior, he was awfully apathetic. He quickly introduced himself as Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi could immediately tell that his group was made of all the wrong stuff. The blond punk was ready to kill the raven haired snob. The pink haired sycophant slavishly admired the raven haired snob, and was going to kill the blond punk. And to top it off, the raven haired snob was pompous egomaniacal fatalist. Good times were ahead.

"So, I guess I'm supposed to be your sensei," Kakashi remarked. As they hung on his every word, he continued, "Well, my first impression of you is…I hate you." They were clearly not impressed.

He motioned for them to follow, saying, "Follow me. We're heading to the Simulation room so we can get this exam over with." As the three recruits followed him out of the room, they all wondered why exactly they'd gone through so much for this.


	2. Chapter 2: The Many Faces of Reality

Chapter Two: The Many Faces of Reality

**AN:** Yes, there will be a shameless expropriation of themes from _The Matrix_. Oh well. You can't have cyberpunk without netrunning, and _The Matrix_ took netrunning to its logical conclusion. But this won't be the Narutrix. I'd really appreciate reviews and constructive feedback.

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"_If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain_"—Morpheus, _The Matrix_

Kakashi led the three hapless recruits through the labyrinth of corridors that burrowed their way through Konoha's central command base. In the ten years that Kakashi had served in Konoha, never before had he seen such a hopeless group of recruits. Taken individually, each of them was considerably above average in abilities, but when combined as they were, they were definitely less than the sum of their parts. Kakashi had learned from painful experience that talent without teamwork meant nothing but death and wasted talent.

But he'd reserve judgment until they actually went through the entrance simulation. Maybe the gods will be watching and a miracle will happen; Kakashi certainly didn't dismiss the chance of them passing. He just wasn't getting his hopes up. For the most part, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke followed him in silence. "_At least they can march in step_," Kakashi mentally noted, "_one must crawl before walking._"

After almost a half an hour of winding through dimly lit corridors and clearing security check points, they arrived at their destination. The room was small and almost pitch-black. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, the shadowy silhouettes of what looked like four chairs came into view. Kakashi flicked on the lights, bathing the room in a dim glow. The chairs looked eerily like a gothic version of a dentist's chair. Sakura shuddered slightly upon seeing the resemblance.

Sasuke was not impressed. "Kakashi-sensei," he jabbed, "you said we were going to a simulation room to take our exam."

"This _is_ the Simulation room, Sasuke," Kakashi replied, "you would do well to shed your preconceived notions of reality. If you are to survive in Konoha, let alone pass this exam, you must find what is underneath the underneath."

He walked over the first chair in the row, setting his hand on it with approval. "Do you all remember the standard issue neural interface that was surgically implanted in you when you joined the Guardian Youth?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, it hurt like hell, but netrunning is certainly a hell of a lot more efficient than keyboard and mouse."

Sakura nodded in agreement, and Sasuke imperceptibly winced at the thought of the implant procedure. "Good, it seems you're all familiar with netrunning," Kakashi noted, "that will make this exam go much more smoothly. Just as sophisticated netrunning software can create a virtual representation of the ethereal world of computer networks and intuitive interface methods, so too can it be used to create an extremely sophisticated simulation of reality. The entrance exam will be a full scale combat exercise, and we'll be using these access nodes to create the exam. This software is light-years beyond anything you have ever seen before."

Naruto walked cautiously up to one of the chairs. He carefully examined it, and found an extendable interface port on the chair right where the occupant's neck would be. He self-consciously rubbed the interface port on his neck as he sighed, "I think I get what you mean, Kakashi-sensei."

"Wait a sec," Sakura muttered, "what is it going to be like in this 'virtual reality'?"

"I can't describe it to you, Sakura," Kakashi smirked, "you're going to have to feel it for you self." He motioned for them to take a seat in the chairs-cum-simulators. Naruto eagerly sat down in one. Sasuke, not to be outdone by Naruto, assertively took one. Sakura grudgingly sat down on the end, nervous about what this adventure would entail. Kakashi took the last one.

"Just relax," he cautioned, "tension will only make it worse."

The last thought that ran through Sakura's head was "_Worse?! What the fuck does he mean by worse?!_" As soon as that train of thought finished, the interface port on the chair connected to hers, and her vision went blurry. Her sight faded to black, and her hearing began to drown in a sea of static before going mute. For a nanosecond, she was completely cut off, without any sensory perception of any kind. Losing any reference point, it felt as though it lasted for an eternity.

Pain, like a knife stabbing deep into her skull, cut through the eternity. As soon as it faded away, a light brighter than a thousand suns came into view, almost blinding in its radiant white purity. A cacophony of noise shattered the silence. The sound began to retreat back from whence it came, and the bright light before her dimmed. She found herself standing naked in a formless white room. She looked to her left, and found Naruto and Sasuke also standing naked in this formless white room. She instantly blushed, her modesty catching up to her. They too became cognizant of their nudity, and nervously tried to protect what little dignity they had left.

Kakashi-sensei materialized before them, wearing a black skin-tight combat suit. Small utility pouches dotted the torso area of his suit, and a coal black pistol was strapped to his left thigh. 

Slung over his back was a submachine gun of some sort. "Welcome to the combat simulator," he chuckled.

"Is there some reason why we have to be naked?" Naruto spit back

"The computer simulation hasn't assigned you clothing yet, and the default physiological scan that your virtual body is based on didn't include any clothes," Kakashi replied. He muttered some commands into his radio headset, and a rack of combat equipment materialized before them. "Please, help yourself. Take whatever you think you'll need."

The three recruits quickly donned the form fitting reflex combat suits, and then began picking through the assorted combat goodies. The reflex suit body armor was a highly restricted piece of military hardware, and even Guardian Youth paramilitary like Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had only been given the bare minimum of training with such a sophisticated piece of nanotechnology. Luckily, the suits were very user friendly in spite of the inherent complexity. The nano-fibers of the suit remain as flexible as spandex (even though the suit itself was about two centimeters thick) until subject to impact, like a rifle butt or a bullet impact. Upon impact, they turn rigid, creating a solid barrier to stop the impact before soon returning to their flexible shape.

Naruto grabbed his favorite sidearm, the venerable M11A Caseless. It was accurate, and its 10mm caseless shells packed stopping power that Dirty Harry himself would admire. He grabbed three 15 round clips before pocketing a couple of flash bang grenades. Everything felt so real, it was uncanny. Their weight and texture was spot on. "It's hard to believe that this is all not real," he muttered.

Kakashi chuckled, "Is it any less real than the world outside, Uzumaki Naruto? Are the sensations any less authentic than touching a tangible grenade? Your brain thinks it is real, and so it is. Reality is determined by your own perceptions; right now, this is your reality."

Naruto eyed him suspiciously, and then went back to collecting gear from the rack. He grabbed a couple of frag grenades, a vibroknife and a fiber-optic camera. Finally, he picked up a MP-90 submachine gun and three fifty-round clips of caseless ammunition. He put on his tactical radio headset, and steeled himself for the coming fight.

Sakura hurriedly zipped up her reflex combat suit, scrambling to regain her modesty as soon as possible (all the while sneaking peaks at Sasuke's naked body). The form fitting reflex armor hugged close to her skin, providing her some much needed comfort. Next she grabbed an M11A pistol, and swiftly slipped it in the holster on her right thigh. She pocketed three clips for the pistol, as well as two flashbang grenades, a vibroknife and a "Jabberwocky" ECM Jammer 

grenade. For the _pièce de résistance_, she snatched up her favorite: the LTR1 sniper rifle. She wasn't much of a fan of getting up close and personal, preferring to keep her distance, and fight with the pinpoint accuracy of a sniper rifle.

Sasuke was suited up and ready before the other two. With machine-like efficiency, he snatched up a vibroknife, an M11A pistol, three frag grenades, and a standard issue AR10 assault rifle. He quickly inserted a 42-round clip into the rifle, and snapped the bolt back with a resounding clack. He set the safety and turned to Kakashi-sensei. "Now what?" he said with a smirk.

"Well, you all seem pretty eager to start, so I'll give you the rundown," Kakashi declared as he went through each of his weapons one by one, as if by habit. "The exam is going to be fairly simple. You're going to be dropped off into a simulated combat area. Using any tools at your disposal, you will find and neutralize me."

They all nodded, turning to each other cautiously for clues about the coming challenge. They'd never seen Kakashi in action, so this challenge was a gigantic unknown abyss. "We're as ready as we'll ever be!" cried Naruto, "Let's do this!"

Not to be outdone by the dropout, Sasuke nodded in silent agreement. Suddenly, the world around them faded to black. Just as suddenly, they found themselves standing in a cluttered warehouse. The ambient sound of rain filled the cavernous space of the warehouse. Droplets of water rained down from the ceiling; this warehouse would provide little shelter from the pouring rain. The smell of mold and mildew permeated the decrepit warehouse.

As they oriented themselves, Sasuke muttered "Fuck!" to himself.

Sakura nodded. "It's going to be almost impossible to stay unnoticed," she whispered, "the puddles of water are going to be like death traps, and I can't hear a damn thing over the rain. Kakashi-sensei knows his stuff."

Naruto scanned across the warehouse, looking for optimum hiding places: any place where Kakashi might be, waiting in ambush. He was going to hunt Kakashi down, but first he'd have to find him. Something was kind of off about the warehouse. Everything was extremely realistic, but it all didn't seem quite right. Something about it started to give him the creeps. Something just wasn't right about everything in the warehouse, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Ugh, this place is creepy," he muttered.

"Stay quiet!" Sakura whispered harshly. She unslung her sniper rifle, quietly cocked the bolt, and began scanning through the warehouse with its infrared scope. She froze suddenly, the rifle held steady on one point.

"What is it?" Naruto whispered, pointing his submachine gun in the same direction.

"Rats!" she squeaked, "Big fucking rats!"

"Is that all?" he replied, lowering his weapon. "_Tch, women,_" he thought to himself.

"Seriously, these are some damn big rats! They're as big as my fucking dog!"

"That's great, Sakura-chan. Where's Sasuke?"

"Open your eyes, idi—" she stopped suddenly, as she turned to see that Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

"That bastard went off on his own…shit." Naruto quietly tiptoed through the dark, slipping behind large cargo crates, melting into the shadows.

"Well, I guess we'd better go catch up with him, eh Naruto?" Sakura queried, waiting for a reply. When none came, she whispered again, "Naruto!" and again nothing came from the darkness. She turned to find that no one was there. "_Damnit! That asshole ran off on his own! I guess I'd better go track down Sasuke-kun,_" she screamed at herself.

As she crept her way forward through the darkness, a small shadowy figure followed her.

The pitch-black night of the warehouse was as bright as day to Sasuke, thanks to the Sharingan cybernetic implants in his eyes. Their infrared and motion tracking capabilities meant that few people could escape his sight. The built in targeting computer software was linked directly to his neural interface port via the computer nanofibers that ran along his brain synapses. His weapon was fire-linked to the cybernetic implants; if he could see it, he could shoot it.

The surgery had hurt like hell, but it was well worth it. He listened for any little sound as he slipped from cover to cover, weaving his way between cargo crates and derelict machinery. He could hear the scurrying of some rather large rats through the din of the rain, but nothing else; if Kakashi-sensei was moving, he was being totally silent.

Something darted through Sasuke's peripheral vision. He turned quickly to see what it was, only to find a blank wall and a stack of crates. He crept closer to the crates, sweeping his assault rifle side to side in a clearing pattern. He darted behind the crates, weapon at the ready, only to find nothing there. This warehouse was starting to get do him. Something wasn't right about this 

place, as though the computer simulation was haunted by some ghost. "_Right, haunted computer programs_," he thought to himself, "_Just stay focused, and finish the mission. I'll just get this done myself. Those two will only slow me down_."

He began waking deeper into the warehouse. Out of nowhere, he heard a clicking sound coming from right behind him. There was only one thing it could be: the sound of an autopistol's hammer being pulled back. His minded raced, searching for an answer or a way out. Before he could react, he heard a soft monotone voice behind him: "Tch, you fucked up."

The short cackle of an M11A pistol cut through the din of the rain. Sasuke felt a wet impact in back of his head, followed by a sharp pain that quickly faded to numbness. He collapsed to his knees, and fell face first into a pool of rainwater. He couldn't feel anything anymore, just cold emptiness. Not quite what he imagined getting shot in the head would feel like, but as far as he was concerned, close enough. His vision slowly faded to black.

He soon found himself sitting in what looked like a lobby, watching a large plasma screen TV. The image on the TV displayed Kakashi quickly policing Sasuke's body, before cutting to two other figures running frantically towards something. "_Shit_," he thought, "_now they're going to make me watch this unfold._"

Sakura was slowly making her way to higher vantage point on a catwalk when she heard the report of the pistol shot. She quickly ran towards the source of the sound, pistol at the ready. After darting through the crates and dodging low hanging chains, she came to the most horrible sight she could imagine: Sasuke lying face down in a pool of blood. She quickly scanned the area before dropping to her knees beside Sasuke's body. She saw the bullet wound in the back of his head, and immediately went numb.

Naruto came around the corner in a frantic sprint. In panic, Sakura drew her pistol on him, and nearly fired. Seeing that it was her teammate, she lowered her weapon and muttered, "H-he…got Sasuke-kun."

Naruto had a hard time remember that this was all just an exercise. The corpse looked so real, it was frightening. "Sakura-chan…" he whispered, "remember, it's a simulation. Sasuke isn't really dead." Seeing the tears streaming down her cheeks made him doubt his own convictions. This was going to be a hellish adventure.


	3. Chapter 3: Creeping Death

Chapter 3: Creeping Death

**AN:**I am dreadfully sorry for my prolonged absence. But rest assured, I'm going to be updating regularly now. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

"_He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. For if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you._"Nietzsche

It wasn't the eerily realistic simulation of a corpse in front of Naruto that made him uneasy. It wasn't even the fact that creeping death lurked around every corner that bothered it him. It was the rain; the dreadful, chilling rain seeping through the holes in the warehouse roof. Its cold embrace shook him to his very core, summoning forth memories long repressed. Life on the streets of Unity City was memory he'd much rather forget. Fighting for scraps, avoiding both police crackdowns and gang violence; this is what ruled the lives of the proles of Unity City, especially the homeless and orphaned. The challenge of survival would scorch and blacken the heart of even the purest soul; how Naruto escaped the ragged slums with any of his humanity intact was nothing short of a miracle.

He'd never forget those long, cold nights out on the bare, filthy streets. And the rain! Oh, the stark, terrible rain was the scourge of all who had no roof over their heads. The sleepless nights of wet and bitter cold were a horror that he'd almost managed to forget. Every night, Naruto would curse the rains that came so strong in the fall. Woe to he who curses the only tears ever to be shed for he and his sorrowfully poor lot. But the horror of waking to sight his only friend as lifeless and cold as the bare stone buildings of the slums would compel any one to curse the sky. Life was so cheap then, and it felt so cheap again, now that Naruto found himself once again cursing the sky.

Sakura knelt, trembling over Sasuke's lifeless body, trying to convince herself that it was just a simulation; that he wasn't really dead. Until now, death had been nothing more than a gray abstraction to her. Now the pale gray angel of death was staring her straight in the face, sickle anxious for the reaping. Before this day, she'd wished the angel of death upon many an individual or group: traitors, subversives, atheists, communists, the prick that cut her off in the bread queue, and countless others. For all of them she had been ready to send them off to meet the firing squad. Now that she'd seen what the wet work looked up close and personal, she lost her lunch.

She doubled over, dropping her pistol with a loud splash into the pooling blood and rain water. The spasms came quickly; she heaved, but nothing would come out. Finally the spasms stopped as she gasped for air. She finally noticed Naruto's hand on her shoulder, and his repeating query, "Are you okay, Sakura?"

When she finally caught her breath, she nodded and weakly acknowledged. He quickly handed her the blood-stained pistol that she dropped, and whispered into her ear, "We need to get moving." She could feel his uneasiness and anxiety; it seemed to drip off him. She nodded silently, and pulled herself to her feet, taking a few wobbly steps to test her balance.

The rain continued to pour in through the threadbare roof of the ware house. The sound of rats chirping was barely audible through the din; nevertheless, each squeak still made Sakura wince slightly. "Let's stick together this time, Naruto," she mumbled, "we can't afford to give Kakashi-sensei that advantage."

Off in the dark recesses of this Lovecraftian abode, Kakashi waited in silence. The headband over his eye had been removed, revealing the pale crimson orb of a Sharingan eye implant. The infrared sensors of the Sharingan cut through the darkness and dripping rain, revealing two bright red and yellow silhouettes painted against the cold, blue night. They stood over a third silhouette, already starting to go cold. They started cautiously moving through the twisting corridors, the taller figure taking point.

"_Hmm._" Kakashi mused silently, "_Just like I expected. Naruto is taking point, with Sakura covering him.__ They may actually be able to pull through this one. Not on the first try, of course. No one ever makes it through the first trial._" He quietly chuckled, and silently lept from his perch to the cold concrete floor. A quick flick of a button, and the active camouflage system on his reflex armor switched on, dissolving his form seamlessly into the night.

He stopped in the middle of a long narrow corridor. "_This will work perfectly_," he said to himself as he knelt down in the deep rain water puddle that had accumulated in this low spot. The puddle was about knee deep and five feet long, stretching to both sides of the narrow corridor. The tall steel crates would make this a perfect choke point. Kakashi dug into his belt pouch, and pulled out a small, baton shaped object. One end was formed into a sphere about 8 centimeters in diameter; its metal casing checkered into segmented squares. A slightly narrower cylinder extended outwards about 10 centimeters. A small twist of the cylinder's end, and three tripod feet popped out the side of the cylinder. The end popped off, revealing a small infrared motion sensor.

Kakashi placed the motion sensor at the front of the puddle, facing straight up to the roof. Finally he placed the tripod device in the center of the deep puddle, totally concealing it under the water. A final twist of the spherical head armed the device. Kakashi swiftly and silently backed away from the device. "Okay Naruto, let's see how you deal with traps then," he whispered to himself.

Kakashi quickly disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura moved as quietly as they could through the puddles, carefully peering around corners in search of the ever elusive Kakashi. It had been close to twenty minutes since they'd heard the single shot that neutralized Sasuke. Finally, Naruto couldn't take the suspense anymore. He turned to Sakura and said in a voice that was considerably too loud for the occasion, "Why the hell hasn't he come and tried to finish us off yet?"

Sakura shrugged and harshly whispered, "Be quiet! We can't afford to give away our position."

Naruto winced, half-expecting violent retribution. He faced forward again, and began creeping forward. The makeshift corridor was lined with rusty steel crates and some large box-car sized shipping containers. About ten meters ahead, the corridor made a left turn. In the corner, a strange crate immediately caught his eye. It was a dull gray metal crate, about one meter on each side. Each face was adorned with a pink heart in the center. Naruto couldn't put his finger on it, but something about the crate just creeped him out.

He peered around the corner in the corridor, looking for any sign of Kakashi. Seeing none, he motioned for Sakura to advance. Five meters forward, and corridor opened up into a large opening, filled with ragged stacks of crates. Naruto cautiously swept his SMG in a clearing routine as he exited the corridor into the room. He relaxed, upon seeing no one there, and motioned Sakura forward. "_Where the hell is __he!_" Naruto mentally screamed.

As if to answer, the loud report of an assault rifle rang out. The muzzle flash seemed to appear out of nowhere. Naruto only caught a glimpse of it before hearing Sakura's ragged scream. The three round burst had caught her squarely in the abdomen. The first round was stopped, but the second two penetrated. She fell down to her, her sniper rifle tumbling out of her arms. She slumped onto the cold metal wall as Naruto swung his SMG towards where the muzzle flash had been. There was a figure, barely discernable from the dark background standing where the muzzle flash and been.

Naruto sent a spray of bullets in the figures direction, but he'd already dodged behind cover by the time he'd pulled the trigger. The figure popped from behind cover, and sent a burst in his direction. Luckily, Naruto had anticipated at least this much, and had dove behind the ragged stack of crates in the clearing. He pulled a grenade of his belt, counted to two, and tossed it towards the assailant. The frag grenade burst in a flash of bright orange; the screams of supersonic shrapnel echoed through the building, briefly drowning out the rain.

When he peered above the crate, Naruto saw the figure sprinting towards a long, narrow corridor. Naruto leapt from behind the crate, and dashed after it, spraying ragged bursts of gun fire at the fleeing foe. He nearly slipped turning the corner into the corridor, but managed to hold his footing. His foe was nearly to the end of the corridor by then. Naruto continue his chase, splashing loudly into the rain puddle in the middle of the corridor.

Out of nowhere, he heard a muffled boom. That instant, he knew he'd made a mistake. A small metal sphere shot up to head level right in front of his face, and exploded to an expanding wall of metal shrapnel. The blast and shrapnel hit him like a sledgehammer. He vision and hearing were gone instantly, and he could feel the pain of a thousand knives all over his face and torso as his body vaulted backwards onto the ground. The pain dulled, and everything slowly faded to black.

After some initial dislocation and vertigo, Naruto soon found himself sitting on a couch next to Sasuke-teme, watching his own lifeless body on a large LCD monitor. Before he could say "What the fuck?!" Sasuke turned to him and smirked.

"So you honestly didn't expect the Bouncing Betty? You're even more of a dropout then I thought."

* * *

Sakura heard the loud boom of the Bouncing Betty anti-personnel mine, and winced. She knew in her heart that she was alone now. Alone and badly wounded. She lay slumped against the cold steel wall, clutching the wound in her stomach for a few more seconds before finally having the presence of mind to pull out her first aid kit. Her bloody hands fumbled with the kit before she finally extricated the bio-foam aerosol. She inserted the nozzle into the first bullet wound, and hesitantly pressed the button. The cold white foam stung like a thousand needles in her stomach as it filled the wound and stopped the bleeding. It stiffened to a rubbery consistency, and the local anesthetic kicked in, dulling the pain from the wound. She regretfully repeated the process for the other bullet hole, barely managing to hold back from screaming.

She wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, and then set the bio-foam aerosol down. She pulled herself to her feet, fighting off the urge to give up. The pain was excruciating, but at least the bleeding stopped. She pulled her pistol out of the thigh holster, and cocked back the slide. She darted her eyes back and forth, keeping watch for any sign of Kakashi, as she slipped off into a small side corridor.

"I won't give up…I won't give up!" she muttered to herself, "I have to prove myself to Sasuke-kun. I won't give up!"

Oh, but she wanted to give up so badly, almost enough to override her commitments. She felt exhausted, and her eyes were heavy. She'd lost too much blood from the gunshots. Every step was excruciating, as the rubbery biofoam pulled at the ragged wound in her stomach.

She heard a small splash directly behind her. She turned swiveled around. To her horror, Kakashi was standing right behind her. Before she could bring her pistol to bear, he seized her arm, and began twisting the pistol out of her hands. She was just too weak right now to have any hope, but she resisted anyway. He soon pried it out of her hands. She managed to pull her left arm free, and reach for her vibroknife.

Kakashi pivoted the pistol around, and placed the barrel directly on her forehead. Sakura's left arm was about ready to plunge the vibroknife into Kakashi's side when he pulled the trigger. She felt a dull, wet thud on her forehead. Her body stopped moving as she willed it to, and tumbled backwards onto the ground. Everything went dark. All she knew was that she had failed miserably.


End file.
